After a nearly year long deployment overseas, soldiers in the 2101st Transportation Company based in Demopolis are headed home.

Soldiers are expected to arrive at Camp Shelby in Mississippi as soon as this weekend and a homecoming reception is planned for Jan. 6 at 11 a.m. at Demopolis High School.

Kim Crain, a Family Assistance Center Specialist, said the soldiers would then be granted a three-day pass.

Members of the 2101st Transportation Company departed Demopolis in January of this year for Fort Dix, New Jersey for final training before heading to Iraq.

The 2101st, formerly the 440th Ordnance Company, was deployed to the Middle East in the 1990s. This is the company’s second deployment in the current war, having provided transportation support for Operation Iraqi Freedom during 2004-05.

Crain and Lee Belcher, Adjutant of Marengo County Disabled American Veterans Chapter 31, both encouraged the public to attend the welcome home ceremony.

“The busses will probably arrive about 10 to 10:30 a.m.,” Crain said. “So, if anyone wants to line the streets and welcome them in, that would be great.”

More than 300 people attended the departure ceremony for the Guardsmen and women in January.

Belcher hopes, and expects, to see a larger crowd to welcome them home.